“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)

The People of Israel are ready to enter the Promised Land. They are on the banks of the Jordan River. Moses gives them God’s directions as they prepare to enter the Land. The instructions are recorded in the book of Deuteronomy. When Moses reminds the people of God’s commands in the Ten Commandments, he gives them a different rationale for the Sabbath. In Exodus, creation formed the reason for the Sabbath. “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. . .. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:8,11) Yet, in Deuteronomy their redemption from slavery and God’s mighty work to bring them out is the rationale for the Sabbath. “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15) Therefore, we find the rationale for why the church, as it moved from its Jewish roots to include both the Jews and the Gentiles began to worship on the first day of the week.

One other Old Testament passage also gives reasons why they were able to focus their worship on the first day of the week. “The LORD’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. On the fifteenth day of that month the LORD’s Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.” (Leviticus 23:5-7) When they celebrated the Passover on the first day of the week, they were to have a Sacred Assembly. On this day they were to treat it like the Sabbath with no work and take time to reflect on God’s activity of how He brought them out of Egypt.

This now brings us to the New Testament. Jesus had been challenged by the Pharisees about healing on the Sabbath. “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” (Luke 6:2) Jesus then enquires about what is lawful to do on the Sabbath. He said, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9) Jesus had expressed the promised Messiah would be “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” (Luke 6:5) He would be God in the flesh. So, after He asked this question, He healed a man with a shriveled right hand. A reminder of the authority of the Messiah.

Now we come to the validation of God’s redemptive word, the Resurrection.  “After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. . .. The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you.” (Matthew 28:1, 5-7) Jesus had died on the sixth day. The day before the Sabbath, and the Last day of God’s work of creation. Then, He was in the tomb on the Sabbath, the day of rest and reflection. On the cross Jesus had said “it is finished.” (John 19:30) So now we come to the first day of the week; Passover’s day of a Sacred Assembly where they celebrated God’s redemption.  The early church would still worship on Saturday in the synagogues as witnesses to Jesus Christ. But they also would meet on the first day of the week as the church to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As the church grew and spread to both Jews and Gentles throughout the world, the church began to worship exclusively on the First Day of the week to rest and reflect on the new life that God had given them.

It is in this time of rest and reflection celebrating the Resurrection, that John would begin to receive the Revelation of Jesus Christ. “On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: ‘Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches.’” (Revelation 1:10-11) It is the only use in the New Testament of the Lord’s Day as a reference to the first day of the week as a day of worship, as a Sabbath. On this day John has an encounter with Jesus. “. . . when I turned I saw . . . someone like a son of man.” (Revelation 1:12,13) “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Revelation 1:17-18) It is this encounter which led to the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches and the rest of the Book of Revelation.

It is the same for us as we gather for worship on the Lord’s Day. God desires to have an encounter with us and to encourage us in our relationship with Him. He also challenges us to be His witnesses, to grow as His disciples and to make more disciples.

This is how we began to worship on Sunday as the Sabbath.  Let us join together on the first day of the week to worship God in celebration of the New Life He has given us in Jesus Christ.

Remember the Sabbath,

In the Love of Jesus,

Michael Block